Protecting One's Friends
by SilverFlameoftheWindScar
Summary: Hedwig's healthy as can be, putting Harry and Draco in a good mood. Horrible enough, it's ruined by someone Harry thought he could ALWAYS trust. Deciding to work on that problem later, Draco stumbles on another problem that he can fix. HPDM Sequel2Enemies


Protecting One's Friends

One-Shot

DISCLAIMER: If it's not copyright or owned by anyone else, it's mine – story, idea, original abilities, other original good stuffs.

(--)

Harry smiled at Draco as they walked back up to the castle. Hedwig, fully healed after three weeks, was perched on the Boy-Who-Lived's shoulder. She hooted at him then flew over to the Slytherin and nipped his ear before continuing to the owlery.

"She likes and approves of you, Draco," the hybrid informed him. Draco smiled at him, the shinning in his blue-silver eyes causing Harry's breath to hitch in his throat. _He's gorgeous when he smiles… NO! I can't…he'll only get hurt…_ Harry's face became an impenetrable mask while Draco watched him.

_Why…why does his face become so unreadable…? Even I can't do that to such an extent as he does…and I've been trained from small to be able to do it!_ Draco's musings were stopped when a slight flash of sadness in the Avada-green eyes of his friend caught his gaze. "Harry," he called, getting the boy's attention as they walked into the Entrance Hall. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Draco. Why'd you-?"

"I know something is bothering you, Harry. Your…_friends_ may not notice, but only one glance gave it away to me." Draco stared unblinkingly at him, unnerving him slightly, but Harry wouldn't let it show. "You've pulled up a mask of unbreakable steel, Harry. And for some odd reason, only a speck of sadness broke through it. _Some_thing is causing you to hurt, and that bothers me!"

"You want to know, Draco?" The Slytherin nodded resolutely, the burning green of Harry's gaze connecting with his own only solidifying his resolve to find out what was hurting his one, true friend. Harry suddenly sighed before letting the mask that had saved his life more than once drop from his face. "You."

"Me? How could I hurt you so much, Harry?" Draco asked, stepping over to the teen who finally matched his height. _He really is a beautiful sight…_ ran through the blonde's mind, causing him to backtrack with a mentally raised eyebrow. _Oh well, it's true,_ he figured before shifting his undivided attention back to the Gryffindor-colored Slytherin. "Tell me, Harry. Don't bottle yourself away from me."

"I…I can't really tell you…because I don't know what I'm feeling. I've never felt it before… But I will show you," Harry replied, biting his lip while trying to make up his mind about this being the best or worst decision of his life.

"Then show me," Draco stated with a demanding voice, though Harry knew it really wasn't like that. Harry looked away from him before refocusing his eyes on the liquid, blue-splashed mercury of Draco's own. His gaze lowered to the blonde's lips, their sure-to-be-soft texture beckoning him with a Siren's passion, before he forced his eyes back up again. "Well?"

"Bloody, fucking hell," Harry groaned then leaned forward and quickly captured the Slytherin's lips with his own. His eyes were clenched shut, ready for Draco to push him away and return his mask to its former splendor. When the blonde's palms touched his chest, he was ready to sprint to the farthest tower, but, surprising the thirteen-year-old, those hands quickly circled around his back to pull him closer. _Guess…I was wrong… Draco really _does_ care about me that way…_

Clumsy was the best description in their case, but they quickly overcame it, letting their tongues wage a war inside their mouths. Harry wrapped his arms tightly around Draco, the flesh and bone feeling like bands of the strongest metal to the Slytherin as he traced gentle nails between the boy's wings. Moaning softly, the Gryffindor couldn't help grinding his hips into the other slightly.

A flash of light destroyed their moment like a shattered mirror, Harry's wing catching the cutting curse that was aimed for Draco. "Harry, you ninny, what _are_ you doing?" the blonde asked softly, worried eyes staring into a non-pained face. _This has to hurt him…but…because of his uncle, he'll never let it show… He'd probably have a broken bone and no one would find out until he got hurt in Quidditch!_

Harry smiled softly at him before looking over to where the jet of light had come from. "Ron? 'Mione? Why are you…?" The thirteen-year-old may have been one of the smartest students in the school, right up with Hermione Granger, herself, (even though he didn't let it show) but some things took him a moment. "Oh _God_, not this shit again…" he grumbled, loud enough for everyone in attendance to hear.

"Why are _you_ protecting _him_, Harry?!" Ron shouted to him, his face red in anger. "He's freaking _molesting_ you with clothes on!"

"I most certainly am _not_! What do you take me for?! Some…barbarian?!" Draco exclaimed in reply. Turning to Harry, he whispered, "Now, molesting you does sound fun, but it wouldn't be half as good if you didn't do the same to me," and drew out a blush to rival the blood-sheen of his wings and hair, which covered from Harry's neck to his hairline and the very tips of his ears.

_I think my _toes_ are blushing!_ he figured before hearing another incantation for a cutting curse and, turning Draco away to place himself between his Gryffindor friends and his Slytherin – _boyfriend?_, he took the curse directly between his wings. Still, he didn't react to the pain.

"_Accio Ron's Wand,_" Hermione called, pointing her own at it. The redhead spluttered, but the brunette merely glared for a moment before turning to look back at her little brother. "Harry…" she called softly, "How long have you two been friends?"

"Technically?" he asked, getting a nod. "Well, the day after my back was shredded. Unofficially was the night before." Harry turned to face the two, a huge grin on his face. "It's gone deeper now, though."

"Harry…you're nuts," Draco whispered to him as he wrapped his arms around him from behind, pressing a kiss to the back of the hybrid's neck. Taking out his wand, he used his other hand to gently smooth out the black wing that had been cut. "_Vigoratus Vacuus Vix,_" he whispered, the powerful healing spell doing it's work to mend Harry's wing without scars.

"You don't have to do that, Dray… I couldn't care less about scars and I know that the spell you used takes a good amount of power for such a large gash," Harry said over his shoulder, only to find the blonde kissing the corner of his lips.

"I don't want your gorgeous wings to scar, Harry."

Harry's face softened as he gazed at Draco from the corner of his eye as the blonde cast a gentle cleansing charm on his wing. "All right, Dray… But don't worry about a scar on my back. You already know what a mangled mess it is…one more won't matter," he compromised, mumbling the last part.

Draco sighed before casting, "_Vigoratus_," at the cut between the feathered appendages extending from Harry's shoulder blades. " We need to find a way to make your wings absolutely impervious so that no one can hurt them again, _and _I could've blocked those curses, Harry. Father…engraves that into my mind." The Gryffindor's eyes saddened at what he knew Draco meant by that. "Nevermind it, Angel."

"Angel?"

"Yes, Harry… You're like my Dark Angel."

"Then you're my Halo. After all, I have to hold something up with my devil horns, don't I?" the hybrid asked with a grin. "Besides, in the right lighting, that blonde hair of yours is like one, so that's my name for you."

As Draco was getting ready to put in a jibe about Harry's 'horns', Ron cut in across them with a wordless cry of some emotion. "What the bloody hell's the matter with you, Harry!? That's _Malfoy_! You know?! The snaky git that treats me and 'Mione like dirt and picks a fight with you every chance he's got – remember him?!" he shouted.

"Ron, when was the last time he picked a fight with any of us?" Harry softly asked, resting a hand over Draco's when his arms tightened around him. "Three weeks ago yesterday, right? When he poked fun at me because I faint in the presence of a Dementor, right?" The tri-haired thirteen-year-old turned to face Draco as he came around to his front. "We've never given him a chance because he's always been a prick to us…which isn't his fault… I'm not going to shun him just because his surname is Malfoy."

"Thanks, Harry…" Draco said with a smile.

"Malfoy's nothing but a slimy Slytherin who bites off more than he can chew!" Ron replied, yelling louder.

"Kinky," the hybrid murmured, grinning when Draco blushed fiercely. "Hermione," Harry suddenly called, surprising the girl with the intensity of his gaze and the use of her full first name. "Would you give Draco a chance to show that he, along with everyone else, has masks? Or will you shun him…and myself as well?"

_S-Shun…Harry? I can't ever do that! …He's my little brother…_ Hermione bit her lip as she looked at Ron. _But…I care for Ron, too. Oh, what do I do!?_ Suddenly, a voice that sounded suspiciously familiar, yet like a certain fifth-year that could have an echo, wafted through her mind, saying, _"You should go with the one who makes more sense, I think. Besides, my book-wormy friend, Ronnikens never makes a very good point."_

"Forget this; c'mon, Hermione," the youngest Weasley son said in a fit of anger, turning to leave. "Let's leave the Boy-Who-Lived with his slimy snake."

"Ronald Weasley! How dare you?!" Hermione glared at him, causing the redhead to pale from the amount of rage shinning in her brown eyes. "How dare you turn on Harry because he decides to befriend a Slytherin?!" She backed away from him and toward Harry and Draco after tossing his wand to him furiously. "I'm going to give Mal…Draco a chance. It's going to be weird calling you by your first name for a while," she said, saying the last part to the blonde.

"Fine! I don't care! Go rot in a filthy dungeon!" Ron shouted before storming away. Hermione glared at Ron before lifting her wand a miniscule amount and casting a secrecy charm on him, wordlessly, to stop him from blabbing to everyone in case of something drastic that could happen.

Harry and Draco, who had one arm around each other, circled the other around the bushy-haired girl, pulling her between them. "Thank you, Sis… Thanks for not being as narrow minded as most of our House."

"And I appreciate the fact that you, like Angel, are willing to give me a chance after all I've done to you. But I am sorrowful for all of the awful comments I've spoken about you…but I'll still be that way when someone is around." Draco's words confused Hermione, and he chose to tell her a little about why. "We'll just say that I won't be back next year, and my name will be in the Obituaries if my father finds out."

The girl snuggled deeper into their hold, saying, "Don't worry, Ma-_Draco_, I'll not tell a soul."

"Come on then, lets go to the Snake Pit. If I know Ron, half the school knows that Halo and I aren't much for being enemies any longer," Harry said with a sigh before they started down the stairs.

"He won't be saying much. Secrecy charms surly come in handy," Hermione said as they came to a snake in silver on a wall. Looking at the snake, she finally said, "It's beautiful…"

_**"Thanks, Miss."**_

"The Guardian says thank you, 'Mione," Harry translated for her. _**"It's been a while since I've been able to speak to you, hasn't it? I'm sorry for that. I've been a **_**little**_** stressed lately."**_

_**"Don't worry, Dark Charmer, you've not hurt me. I understand what it is like to be different. Other portraits have their frames while I am the only one with nothing but the wall as my fortification."**_ Harry was certain the snake had winked at him. _**"And I'm very certain that you changing so much was a large shock for the school and you are all the children talk of. Am I correct?"**_

_**"Utterly…"**_ Harry answered with a sigh. _**"My problems are beside the point, Sir Guardian. I shall find time to speak with you, Lady Hogwarts as my witness."**_ The snake gave a smile to him as Draco supplied the password. The wall spread into fourths, two rising and two lowering in opposing, eighth-section, compass directions.

"Oi, Potter! We said _you_ were welcome! Nothing was ever said about your Mudblood friend!" a voice called out and, if not for Draco grabbing Harry's arm at the very last second, the Gryffindor would've beat the person into the ground. His irritation was shown by the out-flare of his wings.

"_Don't_ you _dare_ insult my sister," he growled, his eyes starting to glow, "Or I'll show you _exactly_ why Dumbledore keeps me under lock and key." Taking a deep breath, he relaxed slightly. Before he could actually slip into a sense of calm, he tensed up again. _**"Don't you dare touch me, you smarmy bastard!"**_ Harry hissed viciously before turning around. He lashed his hand out, catching nothing by air in his grip. "Hello Peeves… It seems I can touch ghosts now… I wonder if I can snap your neck."

"N-now…don't be rash…" the voice of Peeves the Poltergeist stuttered as he appeared, his neck in Harry's hand. "A-after all, it'd be horrible if everyone knew their Golden Boy found association with Slytherins!"

"You can't blackmail me, Peeves," Harry retorted with a cold grin. "Besides, I could just exorcise you from Hogwarts, couldn't I?" If a ghost could pale, Peeves certainly did. "I want you to swear on the peacefulness of your afterlife that you'll never give, willingly or not, another person anything of mine or on me, you'll never take another thing belonging to me, and you'll never share the secrets of those I associate with. Swear it!"

"I…I swear…"

A pleased smile came over Harry's face. "Thank you," he said, letting the poltergeist free before leaning over to Draco and kissing him passionately. "Just a bit of taunting, but I really couldn't wait to feel those soft lips again," he whispered into the blonde's ear.

"The feeling is mutual, Angel," Draco replied with a soft smile, slightly dazed.

"Glad to hear it, love," was the grinning response. Draco's smile grew to show a row of perfect, straight, white teeth. "You need to smile more often."

A spontaneous scream of rage came from their right. "Get away from my Drakie!" was screamed in a feminine voice.

"I detest that name, Parkinson, and I was _never_ yours!" Draco growled in a sophisticated fashion…somehow. Reaching over, he took hold of Harry's hand and strode purposefully across the common room, Hermione at their heels. "This is my personal room. I warn you, Granger, that I've got some harsh protection charms on this door with Harry, and _only_ Harry, keyed into them besides myself.

"If either he or myself doesn't let you in, you'll get a fairly nasty surprise." Placing his palm on the door, it rose up into the wall. "You may enter," he added to the brown-eyed girl, who did so with a slight look of fascination on her face. "Angel," he said, getting Harry's attention. "You do know that Parkinson will be out for your blood, don't you? She and I are supposed to be betrothed…but she doesn't know that if I choose someone over her, the agreement is useless."

"I'll be fine, Halo… You should know that by now, if you know nothing else of me," Harry replied with a wink, leaning over to initiate a loving kiss between them. "Besides, what could the bitch hope to do to me? Sneer and turn her nose up? Pft."

"She knows some powerful curses, Harry, _very_ powerful curses. I'd rather my Dark Angel not be subjected to them," Draco answered, getting another scoff from Harry.

"Whatever she can do can't be half as bad as the Dursleys." The hybrid's eyes suddenly widened before he slapped a hand over his mouth. Looking over, he found angry brown eyes boring holes into him. "S-sorry, Sis… I-I…"

"Yes? I am waiting for your explanation as to _why_ it just so happens that secrets have to be kept from me by my own brother," she said, glaring at him while squinting one eye and widening the other in a perfect Evil Eye.

"That's creepy, 'Mione," Harry said softly yet with a shudder, snorting at Draco when the chuckling blonde sat his chin on the Boy-Who-Lived's shoulder. The Gryffindor batted him over the head with his wing. "I kept that from you because if Vernon would've found out, he would've killed Hedwig. She's the second friend I've ever had, 'Mione, and I want her to live a long, good life…like Errol."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Harry's choice of example. "Errol, Harry? Errol may be taken care of, but I doubt his being half blind will serve him well for much longer," she replied before adding, "But I understand how you feel about Hedwig, Harry. I would've done the same thing if it'd been me and Crookshanks."

"Don't let Weasley hear you say that, Granger. He's been whining about his bloody rat for Merlin knows how long!" Draco cut in, rolling his eyes at the immaturity of some people while wrapping his arms around Harry.

"I hope Crookshanks ate it. The thing gives me the creeps sometimes," the tri-haired Gryffindor admitted. "Seems like it's always staring at me," he added, shuddering.

Hermione gave a low, wolf whistle. "Getting stalked by a rat, Harry? You appeal to everything, don't you?" she asked jokingly.

"Ewww…" Draco mumbled, loosening his hold on Harry slightly.

Turning about, Harry smacked his head. At the glower on the tri-haired boy's face, the blonde gave a cheeky grin. A kiss was pressed to the corner of the Gryffindor's lips, getting a soft smile from him as he wrapped Draco in an embrace of skin and feathers.

"I think I'll leave you two alone," Hermione quietly interrupted, casting a disillusionment charm on herself before leaving. The charm was to insure her safety through the Slytherin territory.

"That was awful nice of her, wasn't it?" Draco questioned as he leaned against his only true friend.

"'Mione's like that. If you're close to her, she'd do _almost_ anything for you. I doubt she'd ever hurt a book," Harry answered, holding the Slytherin tighter. Nudging his shoulder upward, he got Draco to lift his head, giving him the chance to kiss him properly. He felt a hot, wet tongue against his lips and opened his mouth to the gentle muscle.

Draco let the soft, quiet moan from the other boy wash over him, a shiver running down his spine. Lifting his hands, one was run through silky, multi-colored hair while the other was gently gripping Harry's neck, blunt nails trailing over the back of the column of flesh. Draco was pulled closer as Harry shuddered in pleasure.

As the blonde was about to pull away, Harry's soft whisper of, "Don't stop," not only laid rest to his fear of hurting the boy but urged him to go further. This was proven when the Gryffindor's robe pooled to the floor after dropping from his wings

"We don't have to do this now, Harry…" Draco assured him in a caring, quiet voice, his thumb tracing a tender path over the hybrid's cheekbone. "We're only thirteen."

"Yeah…but we can get as close as we feel like…" was the tri-haired boy's response as his fingers easily unfastened the first few buttons of Draco's shirt, making the blonde wonder where his tie had gotten off to. He took that moment to notice that Harry's was taking a vacation from the hybrid's person as well. At the sudden feel of teeth on his neck, a squeak came from the Slytherin. "Shh… It's all right, love… I won't hurt you."

"I know, Angel." Harry gave a bright smile, his eyes lighting up at the pet name, before he went back to the delectable, pale skin he had been nibbling on a moment before. "That feels…so good…" the blonde murmured as his shirt was slowly unbuttoned completely, soft lips following as each button revealed more creamy skin. Draco bit his lip to keep from moaning too loudly as Harry lightly nipped the rim of his navel.

After the blonde had regained his bearings, he kneeled, the same position as Harry was in, to kiss the hybrid heatedly as he removed the other's shirt. His own had disappeared at some point – he couldn't remember when. Smiling slightly, he traced the scars covering the boy with his fingertips and his tongue before his hands moved to slowly trace the ones on Harry's back, letting him map out the topographic texture to the hybrid's skin.

Harry shivered heavily as he relented, letting Draco do as he wanted. _I'm glad he isn't disgusted by my appearance,_ he thought to himself, remembering the only time someone else had seen him without a shirt. He had quickly Obliviated the person – quite a powerful spell for a Second Year.

"I'm tired…" Draco murmured softly as he kissed Harry again, bringing the Gryffindor out of his thoughts. "Come on; we'll get a nap in before dinner."

"All right," Harry acquiesced as the blonde pulled him up to his feet then over to the bed in the Slytherin's room. Pressing a kiss to Draco's forehead, he uttered two words before sleep took him, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Angel," was Draco's soft reply before he, too, fell asleep.

--

The sound of a dull thumping was what caused Harry to wake, having never been a heavy sleeper. Casting quick glamours over his body, deciding that he liked those more than never removing his clothing in the presence of others, he carefully extricated himself from Draco. Stepping over to the door, he threw it open and hissed, "What?!"

He smirked a bit at the fierce blush that attacked Pansy Parkinson's face but immediately scowled and shifted his wing when she tried to look inside the room. "Where's Drakie?" she asked as she tried to step inside.

"I haven't allowed you to come inside, Parkinson, and, if you don't recall, Halo said he hated when you called him that," Harry answered, using his other wing to push her from the doorway and into the hall. "Is there a reason that you've _kindly_ interrupted a well-needed time of rest?" he asked in a perfect drawling voice.

"If you must know, Potter, Mr. Malfoy firecalled. He wants to speak to Drakie as soon as possible. Er…who's Halo?"

"I know you've got a brain. Use it," Harry replied as he closed the door, silently adding his strength to the already formidable wards Draco had placed on his room. _Hmm…You can Apparate in here if you're keyed…? Neat-o,_ he mused with a slight smile.

"Harry…who was that?" a sleepy, yawn-muddled voice inquired.

"Just Parkinson. She said your father firecalled…he wants to talk to you." At the tired sigh from Draco, he added, "I thought about telling her to inform him that he needs to pull the stick out of his ass." At the laugh from the blonde, he knew that he'd accomplished his mission of cheering him up. "Do you want me to be there for you?"

"It'd…it'd be nice…" the Slytherin answered. "I never see him on school grounds unless Uncle Sev is with me."

"Er…Uncle Sev?"

"Professor Snape. He's my godfather." Harry gave a low whistle. "No, he's not that bad. I'll admit he has a bug up his nose every now and then, but he's usually very protective of me. He's the only one who keeps Lucius from hurting me."

"You call your father…Lucius? Isn't that his first name?"

"Yes. I'll not call him Father unless in his presence. He isn't that important to me," Draco admitted as he stood, gathering his shirt and robe after tossing Harry's to him. As he was pulling his robe over his shoulders, a sinful tongue attacked his neck. "Angel…not now…"

"You're too delicious to pass up, love," Harry replied, letting his glamours fade as he clothed himself. He then pulled Draco into a comforting embrace. "It'll be all right, love, don't worry."

"It's not _us_ I'm worried about," was the reply before they left the room. A fierce blush came over Pansy's face as they walked by, getting a snigger from Harry. "What did you do?" Draco asked him as they stepped into the corridor.

"I cast a glamour over my scars and opened the door shirtless." Draco sniggered, too, before outright laughing. As they came to the Potion Master's office, the blonde knocked three times, paused two seconds, then knocked again, but in a rapid seven count that Harry was barely able to catch the timing of.

"Enter," came the Professor's voice. "Draco and…Potter?! Why are you here?!" A growl tore itself from Harry before he could stop it, knowing that his protectiveness, only enhanced by Buckbeak, was going to get him in trouble one day. "Explain this to me. Why are you not at each other's throats?"

"That depends on which method you mean, Professor," Harry answered, getting a raised eyebrow from the greasy-haired man. A grin stretched his lips as he looked over at Draco.

The blonde only shrugged with a sigh then said, "If you must, Angel," before finding that talented tongue drawing a shiver out of him as Harry licked, nipped, and kissed his neck – in that order.

"All right! I get it!" Snape announced to the duo. "Now stop snogging in my office before I have to purify it!"

"But, sir, that's not snogging," Draco said with a smirk, the expression reflected on the hybrid standing beside him. "This is," he finished, leaning over to kiss Harry properly and passionately. Harry's wings wrapped around them, incasing them in a cocoon of feathers. "Ah ha! Uncle Sev!"

"What is it, Draco?" the Potions Master asked, curious about the abrupt change in subject as the blonde spun about, facing the professor while leaning against Harry.

"Is there a potion or spell that can make something absolutely and utterly impervious? Permanently?" the Slytherin asked, Harry's wings still resting around him as the Gryffindor's arms joined the dark-colored appendages. "If not…can you point me to something that may contain what I'm searching for?"

"There is something, Draco. It is a potion but has an illegal spell crafted into it to make whatever you are trying to keep safe completely invincible. It won't work on an entire person, though – only one something like a person's arm, leg, foot, hand… But not a person's head because it could cause severe brain damage," Professor Snape answered, his gaze thoughtful. "Why do you need it?"

"Harry…he used his wings to protect me from a cutting curse from Weasley… I don't want them to scar, too," the boy answered, his eyes widening when Harry slapped his hand over his boyfriend's mouth with a groan. "S-sorry, Angel…I didn't mean to…"

"It's all right, love. I have a feeling that he would've found out, anyway. He's observant enough," Harry soothed, holding the blonde to him closer to prove that he wasn't angry in the slightest.

Deciding to ignore what the two were talking about, Professor Snape walked over to his bookshelf and lifted an ancient-looking tome from it. "This book contains the potion and spell you are looking for, Draco. I will help you prepare it in return for Potter keeping you safe."

"Thank you, Uncle Sev. There's…one more thing…"

"What?"

"Lucius firecalled."

"Fuck."

(--)

There's the end of Protecting One's Friends. Up next is Lucy, the true blonde, coming for a visit to his dear son that cares _sooo_ much for him. (Note the sarcasm.)

Leave me a review, would you? XD


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